When Weiss left Cardin
by rosegoldandgrey
Summary: Weiss Schnee just got dumped by Cardin Winchester. How will she survive junior year? With the help of a few new friends, and a lot of make up for those tears!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I pretty much abandoned writing my last story halfway through because I stated uni and ohmygod the workload is REAL. So, new story due to the magic of procrastination- I have an essay due and a 6-week project I'm halfway through that I simply don't want to do. So, without further ado, welcome to Break ups and Make up!**

 **I don't own RWBY etc etc etc**

 **Enjoy!**

Break ups are never easy. For some, the lucky ones, they'll stay friends- or eventually lose the resentment and become civil. For the less fortunate, the break ups are messy and painful- especially when one person cheats, lies, breaks promises. For little-miss-perfect Weiss Schnee, a messy breakup wasn't foreseen- until her boyfriend of three years, Cardin Winchester, cheated, lied to her, and broke every promise he had made. Weiss had always been the kind of person who was expected to be perfect. Icy cool demeanour, 4.0 GPA, and flawless appearance even on bad days, she never expected part of her perfect life- a perfect partner, from a family her parents approved of- would be the one to ruin everything. And on the last day of summer, too! How would she begin a new school year with him in her homeroom? How would she survive?

She kept her headphones plugged into her ears as she walked down the corridor towards homeroom, even though her school had a rule against them- and she had never been a rule breaker, but today she had other things to worry about. The people, who usually parted like the red sea, got in her way, slowing her down, brushing her shoulders, one pushing her sideways into a locker. She dropped her books and the bell rang. Ripping out one headphone, frustrated, she knelt to pick them up.

Another pair of hands joined her. "You want some help?" the girl asked without waiting for an answer. They straightened up and she gave Weiss her other books.

Weiss looked at this stranger who had stopped to help her. "Uh, thanks…" she said. The girl was shorter than her (barely) which instantly made Weiss more comfortable. She was very sensitive about her height. Other than that, the girl was perfectly ordinary. Short, dark brown hair, tipped with red, and large silvery eyes. She wore the Beacon uniform with an accessory- a large red scarf that trailed behind her. She turned to head to her homeroom.

"I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. I'm new here."

"Weiss Schnee. It's nice to meet you."

"So, where you off to?"

"Homeroom. Speaking of which, why aren't you in your homeroom?"

Ruby gasped. "I totally forgot! I'm so late! And it's my first day! Sorry Weiss, gotta Run!"

Weiss watched her new acquaintance bolt down the corridor, looking like a flurry of rose petals, and realised that she too was late _. "What a dolt."_ She began walking the stretch to room 630, pulling out her other headphone. But it wasn't until she reached homeroom when she remembered Cardin. Seats had been assigned when they had re-enrolled over the summer and been given their homerooms. It had only been two weeks since that day, but it felt like a lifetime. He was in there, sat two desks from the back in the column furthest from the door, three rows back from her. At least she didn't have to see his face.

She pulled the door open and was met with stares from the other 29 students, plus her teacher, Ms. Goodwitch.

"Ah, miss Schnee. Thank you for joining us."

"Sorry I'm late Miss, I had to help a new girl find her homeroom." It wasn't a total lie; she had reminded Ruby that she needed to get there.

"That's very admirable of you. Take your seat."

"Thank you Miss."

First day homeroom sucked. They went through locker assignments, timetables, handed out homework planners. Then came the killers.

"So this year you will begin to think about what you'll be doing once you leave high school. As juniors, it's early enough that you don't have to stress out just yet, but close enough that you can see how this will affect your future. I will be holding personal sessions with each of you to talk about your options one-on-one. College isn't for everyone, so we'll be considering alternatives. If you decide you do want to attend college, we need to look at which ones you want to apply to, arrange visits and such."

As Goodwitch droned on, Weiss became aware of the two girls sat in the row ahead of her, who were sneakily passing notes and giggling. Very bold for front-row students. The blonde sat directly in front of her had a harder time suppressing her laughter than the dark-haired girl with the large black bow sat to the right.

"Miss Xiao-Long! That better not be a note I see you passing!" Goodwitch's voice snapped Weiss out of her thoughts. The teacher opened the note and read it aloud to the class. "Sure, Otis College doesn't sound very academic, but it's so much fun! Have you seen their parties? Pepperdine is for the boring stuffy bourgeoisie anyways- you don't want that." the note crumpled. "While I appreciate partying is a big reason for some, college is about furthering your education. Please let Miss Belladonna choose her own college."

 _"That's what they were laughing at? Party Schools?"_ thought Weiss. _"God, amateurs. They must have no sense of humour."_

Cardin snorted from the back of the room. "You really think anyone cares about learning at college? It's all about the parties, yo!" he was met with cheers from his fellow jocks.

Weiss rolled her eyes. _"I can't believe I went out with_ _that_ _for so long,"_ she muttered under her breath.

Yang Xiao-Long must have heard her, because she lifted her arm backwards as though to scratch the back of her neck, dropping a note on Weiss' desk. _"Yo, if he's pissing you off, come hang with Blakey and I! We can take your mind off him ;)"_

Weiss thawed slightly. Maybe break ups didn't suck so much. She had a new… friend… to hand out with.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow am I getting these out fast! I have no idea where this story is going I'm just having fun with this. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own RWBY etc etc etc**

Lunch started badly.

Weiss had always wanted to be one of those girls who spent her lunchtimes in the library. However, Cardin always wanted to make out in his car, or hand with the jocks, and she had to be the perfect girlfriend and go along with it. Not that she enjoyed it. And her grades hadn't suffered, but she still wanted to get ahead. Well, further ahead.

Today, she decided, would be the start of that. She was going to study the whole lunch hour. Right after she bought something to eat.

The café was packed, as always. She just didn't remember this many CHILDREN everywhere. Oh, wait. Freshmen.

Lunch for her meant a salad and orange juice. Maybe a cookie if she wasn't full after that. The café was full of smells of cooked food which just made her stomach turn most days. Who wanted bog-standard fish curry anyway? As she reached for a plastic container of tuna Nicoise, someone thumped her in the back. _"Don't respond. Don't respond. Don't respond."_ She willed herself. She grabbed her salad and juice bottle, as always, and headed over to the till. Then it happened again. She whipped her head around with a death glare. Behind her stood the weirdo she was cheated on WITH. The dark-haired girl who wore nothing but white outside of school and had waaaaaaay too much eyeshadow on for her look to be school-appropriate. Melanie, was it? Or Militia? One of them. She didn't have time. "What?" she snapped.

The girl twirled her hair between her fingers. "It's just so funny how you couldn't hold onto Cardin. I mean, aren't you amazing at everything? So why would he dump you for me?"

"Melanie, I don't have time for this. Go away."

"Well," responded the other twin, "That was a weak response. Has the ice queen melted?"

"Oh look, it's the other half of the freak show. Why don't you go join a circus or something? Just leave me alone."

"Someone's touchy," said the first twin sing-songy. "Don't tell me you're heartbroken?" she mimed being sad.

Weiss turned away from them. "I said, go away."

"But we don't want to," they responded in unison. Weiss handed a $10 note to the cashier and got her change.

"Great for you, but I have things to do." She took her meal and began to walk away.

But for some reason, these two were persistent. They followed her out of the café, down the hall, into the library.

"Do you two not get bored or something?"

"Not when our toy is so much fun!"

"I'm not a toy. I'm busy."

"It's the first day, how much could you really have to do?"

"Enough to hold my interest over you two. Not that that's hard." By this point, Weiss had her nose in a big, dusty book, her salad open and her brain focussed.

The two exchanged glances. "Weiss. Put the book down." Teased one.

The other pulled it away from her.

"Hey!"

"What? You won't play with us!"

"You ever think there's a reason for that?"

"Because I stole your man?"

"BECAUSE I SAID I'M BUSY!"

"Hey Weiss!" a voice came from behind her.

She turned. "Hey, Yang. What are you doing here?"

"Blakey wanted a book or something I'm not sure. What's up?"

"I was trying to get some reading done but that's not happening, apparently."

Yang glared at the two. "Now, now ladies, are we going to have to remind you what happened back in that club? Over the summer? I hoped You learned your lessons there, but if you need a reminder…" she smiled widely.

The twins glanced at each other worriedly. "What…" "Ever." They stormed out of the library.

"Um… thanks, Yang." Weiss stood up. "I thought they'd never leave."

"You know they only do that because they can smell weakness, right?"

"And because they know where to apply pressure."

Yang chuckled. "Grab your stuff, some sit with us. Blake and my little sister should have a table by now."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, Ruby. She's a freshman but isn't so hot at making friends, you know? So, I said she can hang with us until she finds some new friends."

"Short dark hair? Klutz? Moves way too fast?"

"You know her?"

"Sort of, I ran int-"

"WEISS!" a red blur appeared in front of them. "You're friends with Yang?"

"Sort of…"

"That's so cool! We're like a clique now, right?!"

"Rubes, calm down! You're scaring her!"

"I'm sorry!" she pulled Yang and Weiss to the table where Blake was sat, reading.

"Sup," Blake said, barely looking up from her book.

"Hey, it's Blake, right?" Weiss asked.

"That's me."

Weiss sat next to the dark-haired girl, opposite from Yang and her little sister. They all had incredibly different lunches. Ruby, for example, had a pot of strawberries and a packet of cookies. Yang was fuelling up on the fish curry- with extra hot sauce. Blake had what appeared to be a couple cans of tuna between two slices of bread, or a 'sandwich', as some may call it. Weiss pulled out her own salad, and Ruby crinkled her nose.

"How can you eat so little?"

"I'm sorry?" Weiss reopened the tub.

"It's not like a salad is really filling, is it?"

"I like it, so…"

The conversation trickled to a close. Blake continued reading. Yang was texting at an incredibly high speed. Ruby played with her food. Weiss reopened her dusty book, but found herself unable to concentrate, the twins' comments drifting around her head.

"You alright there Weiss?" Yang said.

"Huh? Yes, why?"

"You've been toying with that same leaf for the last 30 seconds."

She realised that she hadn't eaten anything while thinking. "Right. Yeah. I just… I'm not with it today."

"Everything okay?"

"Not really, but… hey, it's not really anything you should concern yourself with."

"Are you sure?" Blake piped up. "You don't know us very well, but we can keep secrets. Sometimes it's easier to talk to people who don't know you very well."

"Okay…" Weiss hesitated. "If you must know, my boyfriend of 3 years dumped me yesterday, after I let him cheat on me multiple times and forgave absolutely everything. Oh, and the bimbo he cheated on me with is insistent on rubbing it into my face. On top of that, I can't focus on anything because I'm grieving so much. So yeah, nothing's okay right now."

"Damn…" Yang bit her lip. "I don't know much about dating- I'm more a hookup kinda gal-but I hear that sucks."

"I get it." Blake said. "When I broke up with Adam-"

"Blake, I swear, say those words again and I will end you. Adam was an asshole. Weiss' ex is also an asshole. You don't stay with guys like that." Yang interrupted.

Blake glared at her. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, when I broke up with Adam, it felt like the world had ended. But you need to know that you deserve better than that. He cheated on you! And you're… well, you!"

"Let's not talk about this, please…" said Ruby.

"Why? What's up, Rubes?"

"I… uh… I asked Penny out… and she rejected me…"

"You kept that quiet!" Yang yelled. "What happened?"

"Well… it was last week at Coco's party. I asked her if she wanted to go out like on a date and she said she wasn't interested."

"Damn… I'm sorry, honey."

"Yeah, that sucks Ruby." Blake added.

"Yeah, sorry to hear that." Weiss said.

"It's okay, guys. You don't have to make a big deal out of it. I mean, I'm 15. I wasn't going to find true love or whatever at 15!"

"Cardin and I started dating at 14…" Weiss muttered.

"You thought he was the one?" Blake asked sympathetically.

"It didn't seem that far off at the time. I mean, by family approved, his family approved, everyone was happy. But for him it was all for show."

"I'm sorry." Blake said.

"Why? It's not you he cheated with."

"She wouldn't let him anywhere near her," Yang joked.

"Can we change the subject, please?" Weiss asked. "What does everyone have next period?"

"Math!" Blake and Yang answered in unison.

"Gym," groaned Ruby.

Weiss let out a laugh at Ruby's response. "Surely an energetic girl like you loves gym?"

"I don't like how they control it though. I like doing my own thing, working out my own way. Strength training rather than… whatever softball is!"

They all laughed at that.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello again! 3 chapters in two days? Is Rose feeling okay?**

 **Yes. In face I'm feeling more than okay. I'm feeling inspired, and so you get flooded with chapters today. You're welcome. Don't expect it to happen all the time, though! Uni life, amirite?**

 **I don't own RWBY etc etc etc**

Two weeks later, they were sat at that same lunch table (claimed as theirs by an artsy Ruby, who had drawn a logo on the table- RWBY- putting the first letters of all their names into an artsy graphic) laughing over a video Yang had spotted online. It was a cute animal compilation, and they were watching it on Blake's iPad, when Yang got out of her seat. "I'm gunna go grab a coffee before class starts." She leaned on the back of Weiss' chair. "You guys want anything?"

"Tea, please." Came from Blake.

"Can I get a hot choccie? It's cold outside and gym is next…"

"Want me to come with? I can help carry?" offered Weiss.

"Thanks, Ice queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?"

"You do act like an ice queen!"

"I know, but that's a defence mechanism!"

"And you have white hair!"

The two kept squabbling all the way to the café. Inside, they ordered two large caramel macchiatos, and large green tea, and a large gingerbread hot chocolate from the Starbucks their school for some reason had installed. Yang went to pay, but Weiss stopped her.

"I have money, Ice Queen."

"I know! The thing is, you could use that money to buy something that matters to you."

"And you?"

"Like my parents are gunna miss $10?"

"Fair point. You can pay."

Weiss smiled. It felt nice to not be being selfish for once.

They grabbed the hot drinks and were about to head back to the library when their path was blocked by a tall, brown-haired jock. "Weiss. We need to talk."

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Yang stepped in front of Weiss, defending her friend."

"It's okay, Yang." Weiss stepped out. "Let's talk in the hallway, Cardin. Yang, can you wait here?"

"Sure…" The blonde watched her new friend follow the muscly manchild out into the hall.

"So, Cardin, what do you want to talk about?" Her demeanour went from warm and friendly, as she usually was around Yang, to icy cool. It was like she grew a layer of ice directly underneath her skin. He could heel it being directed towards him.

"I… uh…" he stuttered.

She raised an eyebrow. "I have things to do with my time, so get on with it."

He looked at her. So perfect. So porcelain. How could he have ever let her go? Her mouth pursed slightly. "Weiss, I think we should get back together."

"What?!" She burst out laughing. "No. That's not happening."

"Why not?"

Her expression hardened. "Because you cheated, and lied, and made me into what YOU wanted your girlfriend to be rather than liking me for me. Then your dumb little whore came after me with her twin and tried to attack me. And- oh, yeah. Because I'm not in love with you! There's a pretty good reason too!"

"Weiss- I know I screwed things up, but please, I promise I won't hurt you again!"

"No."

"I'll do anything! Weiss, I'm literally begging you right now- please give me one more chance!"

"No."

"Don't do this!"

"No."

"Weiss, I… I think I love you."

"Yeah sure, whatever. You don't love me. You need me. She can't take care of you the way I did. And you're only realising that now. But I should think of myself for once. I gave up everything to be with you, and why? Because my parents approve? Because YOUR parents approve? I dealt with your shit for years, Cardin, and never once burdened you with my problems! So, get it through your skull. I don't want to get back with you!"

He glared angrily, lost for words. He opened his mouth several times, goldfish-style. Then, the 200-pound bag of muscle and brawn turned and stormed away.

Weiss exhaled deeply, releasing the tension in her muscles. She pushed the door open for Yang to come through. "Yang, we're finished."

"Tell me everything."

"He wanted to get back with me."

"And you said?"

"No, obviously."

"I heard yelling. Were you yelling at him?"

"He deserved it."

"I'm so proud of you!"

"Yang, don't jump, you'll spill your coffee."

"He said WHAT?"

"That he's in love with me."

"And you still didn't take him back?"

"Like he knows how to love, Ruby!"

"I think she made the right choice. Cardin's a dick. Blake knows how dickish guys can be in relationships, why don't you say something?"

"If Adam came back right now and begged me to get back with him, in all honestly I'd have a hard time saying no."

"What?"

"Part of me is still in love with him!"

"Blake, the guy was terrible to you! Do you not remember what happened on New Year's?"

"I remember, I was there!"

Weiss blinked at them. "What happened on New Year's?" she asked.

Yang turned to her. "I forget you don't know this stuff…" she glanced at Blake, who nodded. "Adam was a tiny bit… abusive."

"You mean like hitting her?"

"I mean like beating her to a bloody pulp and almost setting fire to her when she wouldn't have sex with him afterwards, even though she needed urgent medical attention."

"Oh, my god…" Weiss covered her mouth with her hands. She turned to Blake.

"It happens." Blake said, her eyes downcast. "It's not like I'm the only girl it ever happened to. But if Yang wasn't in the hotel room next door… I don't know if I'd still be here today."

"That's so dark…"

"Eh, like I said: it happens. Anyway, this isn't about me, it's about you. And Cardin."

"Okay…"

"Why did you get with him if you knew he was such a dick?"

"I… I don't know, He liked me, I liked him, it made sense at the time!"

"You guys, I know what we need!" Ruby piped up suddenly. "A sleepover and ours! Tonight!"

They all turned to look at her.

Yang was the first to speak up. "Our dad is out of town for the weekend… I suppose it could be fun to have you guys around."

"I'm in," said Blake, "But only if we order massive pizzas and watch rom-coms and get drunk."

"Done, done, and was there ever a doubt?" Yang answered. "Weiss? You in?"

"I'll have to check with my parents, but they should be fine with it. I'll just say it's for a project or something."

"Coolio! The RWBY gang will meet tonight at 7pm at ours for the sleepover of the century!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter is suuuuper long and it's more development than actual story progression. Still, I had so much fun writing it! Trying to focus on this story is so impossible today, I'm not sure why? I'm blaming the severe sleep deficiency I get fro all my uni assignments! Again, enjoy!**

 **I don't own RWBY and all that**

Weiss arrived at Yang and Ruby's house at 6.45pm on that cold September evening. She looked at the cottage-style house and wondered how they could live in there. It looked small. Like, tiny. Unless it was the TARDIS, it didn't seem habitable.

A cough from behind her turned her around to a much bigger house across the street, where Yang was standing in the doorway. "Come in, Weiss. It's too cold out there, even for the Ice Queen!"

Weiss smiled. "The cold never bothered me anyway!" she replied, but hurried inside. It was a quaint log cabin-esque property. While Weiss was a more modern girl, there was no denying its charm. A fire roared in a Victorian- inspired fireplace, and all the furniture was a neutral brown colour. It was very rustic and back-to-basics.

A knock at the door alerted them to Blake's arrival. "I'll get it!" Yang jumped up. "It's Blakey!"

Weiss could practically see the hearts forming over Yang's eyes when she said Blake's name, but said nothing. It was obvious Yang liked Blake. The icy heiress was sure that Blake knew Yang liked her too, but Blake's sexuality had never been explained. The only mention of a past relationship was with that abusive asshole, Adam.

The two walked into the room. Weiss immediately noticed how little Blake was wearing despite the weather. Black booty shorts, translucent tights, and a white halter neck, a sleeveless black jacket that looked like it was made from PVC covering her shirt. "Hey guys."

"Hey, Blake!" Pitched Ruby from in front of the TV, where she was painting her toenails shocking red.

"Ruby, you're supposed to wait until everyone's here before you break out the cosmetics!" Yang joked.

"We're all here now, aren't we?" Ruby bet her neck backwards to look at Yang from her place on the floor. "Come on, everyone grab a nail polish!"

It wasn't long before they all had bright new nails. Weiss had a reverse French manicure, courtesy of Ruby, while she had painted Ruby's the same shocking red as the redhead's toenails. That girl needed some new colours in her wardrobe. Meanwhile, Blake, who was surprisingly good at nail art, had painted little flames on Yang's fingertips and topped it off with a few crystals, just for fun. She had stuck with black for herself.

"You guys, we should get something to drink. Weiss, come help me!" Commanded Yang.

"Okay, but should Ruby be drinking? Isn't she like 14?" Questioned Weiss.

"She's 15." Blake commented lazily.

"And can speak for herself!" Ruby piped up. "I'm not a fan of hard liquor, but I drink a little bit. I'm in high school too!"

"Yeah you're like 12 to me." Weiss replied. "You can have strawberry juice."

"Mixed with vodka?" Asked Ruby.

"I thought you didn't like hard liquor, Rubes!" called Yang from the kitchen, where she and Weiss were looking through bottles.

"I don't, but you can't mix wine with juice. It's wrong!"

Yang chuckled. "Sure, thing, Rubes! But don't complain if you're hungover tomorrow!"

(Fast-forward to 10pm)

"You guys, let's play 'Never have I Ever!'" Drunk Yang called out, over the giggly mess of girls. Blake was lying on her back, laughing her ass off, drunk as hell from shots after shots. Weiss was pleasantly tipsy but still sorta in control, but pink in the face. Ruby was hysterical, there was no calming her down. But they all agreed to play.

Yang went first. "Never have I ever… had bondage sex!"

They all erupted into laughter, as Blake took a shot. "Seriously? Damn, Blake, you're kinkier than I thought!"

"You can thank Adam for that!"

"Okay, Weiss, you're next. What's yours?"

"Never have I ever… had drunk sex!"

Blake, Yang, and Ruby all took a shot. "Wait? ALL of you?"

"You've met us, right? All we do is party and drink!"

"Ruby's 15!"

"Yeah, and I party just as hard as Yang on summer vacation! We went to Cabo last summer!"

"Damn it! I'm gunna be the least drunk one at this rate!"

"Blake, it's your turn!"

"Never have I ever… got arrested!"

Yang and Weiss drank. "Weiss, wat did you get arrested for?" asked a slurry Yang.

"Cardin wanted to tag the school, I had to be lookout."

Ruby snorted. "Cardin thinks he's an artist?"

"At least it kept him occupied. He wasn't very good, though."

"Maybe we should show him what real art is…" Ruby had an evil glint in her eye. "You got any pics of him?"

"They're probably still up on Facebook, why?" Weiss became increasingly aware of Ruby's look. "What are you gunna do?"

"Lemme just…" Ruby produced a Macbook and began typing and scrolling frantically. "lemme…. Wait…" a few seconds later, she proudly turned the laptop around to show them a photoshopped porn star, standing fully naked, his tiny penis in hand, with Cardin's face crudely cropped over his own. They all melted into laughter.

"Ruby- that's- so perfect…" Yang choked back tears. Blake was beyond gone, shrieking with laughter. Weiss was finding it hard to breathe.

"So tell us, Weiss, how accurate is it?"

"How… accurate is the dick?"

"Yeah, what else are we talking about?"

Weiss paused.

The whole group paused.

"Weiss…" began Yang slowly, "Did you ever have sex with him?"

Weiss ducked and shook her head.

"Thank fuck for that!" Yang yelled, raising her shot glass and taking a gulp of tequila.

"Wait, what?" Blake screeched. "You were with him for three years and you never did the guy?"

"We did… other things…" Weiss said.

"Like what?"

"He liked to turn the lights off and make me give him blowjobs?"

"He LIKED the lights off?"

"I thought it was normal to do that stuff in the dark!"

"What kind of guy wants the light off while his girl sucks him off?"

"One with a small dick?"

"Guys, wait…" Weiss said, as her phone vibrated. "It's him! What does he want?"

"Why do you still have his number?"

"Shh!... What do you want, Cardin?" She quickly switched the phone to speaker and his angry voice burst through the room.

"You photoshopped a pic of me?"

"What? No! Why would you say that?" she looked up at Ruby, and saw an evil grin staring back at her.

"I GUESS HE DIDN'T LIKE IT?" Ruby typed.

She glared at Ruby.

"SOMEONE sent me a photoshopped pic of me as a porn star!"

"Clearly you didn't pay any attention to me when we were together, because if you had you'd know I'm awful with computers!"

"Oh please, it's not like this was great art or anything!"

"So now you're an art critic? What's so bad about this picture, anyway?"

"You don't want to know," he said darkly, as Blake and Yang silently gasped for air. He was being overly melodramatic.

"Seriously, piss off. I'm trying to live my life, which unsurprisingly doesn't involve screwing with you."

"OR SCREWING HIM" Ruby typed, turning the laptop towards the group.

"Of course it was you! No-one else hates me!"

"I wouldn't hate you as much if you fucked off!"

"NOT. HAPPENING."

Weiss hung up. Silence hovered over the room. Then, the phone rang again. Before Weiss could do anything, Yang had the phone and was talking.

"Yo- dickface- she doesn't wanna talk to you."

"Who is this?"

"IssYang! From class!"

"Where's Weiss? Why do you have her phone?"

"OVER PROTECTIVE MUCH?" Ruby typed.

"Cardin, we aren't dating. Get that through the boulder you call a head."

"She lives! Cardin, you heard her. Byeeeeeeeee!"

She hung up, too.

They all exploded into laughter, before Ruby sat up, an idea forming.

"Let's egg his house!"

"WHAT?!" She was met with three pairs of eyes.

"I'm in," said Blake casually. "He was always a dick to me." She took another shot.

"Do we get to T.P. it, too?" Yang asked hopefully. She looked at Weiss' phone. "Weiss, why do you still have his calendar synced?"

Weiss facepalmed. "I totally forgot! I'll unsync it now!"

"Wait- it says he's out of town this weekend."

"Yeah, it's a long weekend. He usually spends it with his parents in San Fran."

"And we didn't know this detail because..."

"Because you lot are creative as hell, and that would only fuel your fire. Plus, I kinda forgot."

"So he's definitely gone?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Then let's go!"

"Wait! Yang, should we involve those other guys Cardin picks on? Jaune and his buddies? I heard they're out partying tonight."

"Call them up- the more the merrier!"

Weiss nodded in agreement. "It's not like he doesn't deserve it. More people means more ground covered."

They grabbed their stuff as Ruby dialled Jaune. "Hey, Jaune. What are you guys up to?"

"We just left a club. Nora picked a fight with the bouncer, and, well, it wasn't pretty."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine, it's not her you have to worry about."

"Oh yeah, I forgot her freakish strength! Anyways, if you guys are free, we're going to T.P. and egg Winchester's house. You guys in?"

There was a small kerfuffle on the other end of the call. "We're in."

Pyrrha's voice came through the speaker. "I have the minivan tonight, if you guys want us to pick you up?"

"That would be great! So, that makes eight of us in total?"

"Yep. Where are you guys?"

"My place." Yang glared at her little sister. "Correction: our place."

"We're super close already! We'll be by in 15, be ready."

"Can we stop by the store before Cardin's house? We need supplies."

"Fine by us. See you soon."

"Bye!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: We're finally getting some romance up in this! Took me long enough! I miss writing romance... Anyways I'm uploading this at midnight and I have had a total of 6 hours sleep in the last 48 hours. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own RWBY why do I have to do this disclaimer if I owned RWBY then Bumblebee would be canon**

"Blake, put a jacket on."

"Yang, why are you so obsessed with me keeping warm?"

"Firstly, my name literally means little sun dragon in Chinese. Obviously, I care about warmth. Secondly, it's like 30 Fahrenheit. Thirdly, and most important, even Elsa over there is wearing a jacket. That's how cold it is. It might even snow."

"It's November, no way is it thirty- fifty at least, and that's like a long blazer."

"Put the jacket on. Come on, it's even black!"

"Fine, just stop mothering me!"

"It's instinct at this point…"

The car drove up to the house. Yang pulled the door open and practically sprinted to the car. "Hey, guys!"

Blake followed, pulling on the jacket, Ruby and Weiss on her heels. Ruby locked the door and tucked the key under a flowerpot. "Just in case I get even drunker." She grinned at Weiss.

Pyrrha was driving, with Jaune shotgun. "Hey, guys! Get in, it's way too cold out there!"

While waiting to climb into the van, Weiss locked eyes with Jaune. She saw his eyes widen, saw every detail of his face in that split second. It was like everything slowed down. She saw the messy blonde hair, the pale skin slapped red with cold, his giant blue believer's eyes, the handsome jawline, absolutely everything.

"Weiss, you coming or not?" Yang's voice cut her out of the trance. She turned, slightly embarrassed, and got into the car.

(At the store- 12 midnight)

Weiss did her best to avoid Jaune after that. The fact that she had shared such an intimate moment with someone she hadn't ever spoken to- it was so embarrassing for her. But she had to wonder why he intrigued her so much. He wasn't her usual "type"- he wasn't a muscle-bound jock, he wasn't cocky, he wasn't… well, he wasn't Cardin.

As they walked around the superstore, filling their trolley not only with eggs and toilet rolls, but also snacks and more alcohol- Pyrrha had her fake I.D., as did Nora, in case they got caught. Despite being almost as short as Weiss, Nora had the energy of ten giants. She seemed to crackle with electricity, and her favourite game was to static shock people. She laughed loudly, filling the dead store with life, while her best friend Ren walked quietly beside her, attempting to calm her down. Behind them were Pyrrha and Jaune, pushing the trolley. Weiss' stomach flipped whenever she saw Jaune, and she couldn't even understand why. She walked a few paces behind them, with Ruby, Yang, and Blake, but it was all a blur in her head. Then, the unbelievable happened.

"Weiss, we need pretzels." Yang declared. "Go get them. Jaune, go with."

Weiss' eyes met Jaune's, and she shot him a small smile. The only thing was, they were on the other side of the store to where they were. The two walked out of the aisle.

Yang turned to Pyrrha. "I know you like Jaune-"

"I never said that!"

"Yeah we all know you don't say it but you feel it, don't you? Anyway, I think he might like Weiss. And she kinda needs someone like that. If not as a partner, then at least as a friend. This little trip across the store should let us know how compatible they are."

Pyrrha didn't reply. Her face said it all. She wanted Jaune, he was hers, and if she lost him to someone he barely knew, she knew she wouldn't survive.

"So Weiss, how do you know those guys?"

"We started hanging out on the first day of class after one of Cardin's whores tried to attack me."

Normally she would never talk so crudely, especially as the first thing she said to a guy, but she was drunk and he seemed nice. He would get over it.

"But… aren't you dating him?"

"Was."

"What happened."

"He was a dick. Or used his dick. On someone. That wasn't me."

"I guess you weren't too into that, huh?"

"Would I be here grabbing pretzels and toilet roll with you guys if I was into it?"

He looked at her. Looked at her, for the first time. Everyone thought she was flawless, but he now saw a faded pink scar over her left eye. It was so subtle it wouldn't have been noticeable under the makeup she usually wore. He noticed that her lashes grew straight, rather than curled as he knew (from his seven sisters) was the goal. He noticed how petite she was. He noticed… well, everything.

"Weiss, I'm probably going to regret this when I'm sober, but… I feel like we connected, when our eyes met earlier." She looked at him. He couldn't read her expression. "I know you're getting over Cardin, but I would really like to go out with you sometime?"

She smiled sadly. "We should get back to the others. We've been gone ages."

"So… is that a no?"

"It's an "I don't have an answer for you right now, I'm sorry.""

He looked down, despondent.

"It doesn't necessarily mean no, though." She smiled softly at him. "It's just… circumstance."

He nodded. They rejoined the group.

"You guys were gone loooong time!" said a (somehow even more hammered) Yang. "Whaddidya get lost or something?"

"No, just taking our time. there's no rush, right?" Jaune replied. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at him, and he quickly joined her side.

Weiss stayed quiet.

"Weiss you okay?" Blake asked.

"Fine, I'm just thinking."

"About?"

They fell a few paces back.

"I… I think I like someone."

"You and dickface broke up not one month ago."

"I know, but… you know when you have a connection with someone? And it's just like you instantly click, even if the words aren't there?"

Blake looked down. "I know that feeling."

"That's what I felt."

"So, who is it?"

"I…"

"It's totally Jaune, isn't it?"

Weiss looked at her friend. "How did you guess?"

"You thought we wouldn't notice you staring at him the whole trip? And looking away guiltily?"

"I guess I hoped you guys were oblivious to it…"

"We aren't dumb. Plus, Pyrrha is totally into him too."

"But he's not into her?"

"You can't help who you fall for- or don't. He didn't fall for her."

Weiss said nothing, but something inside her stirred. She had competition? No-one had told her about this! Why would Yang do this to her?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So this chapter is finally done. Writer's block kept me up all night trying to figure it out. Also, the next few chapters should come out fairly regularly but in about a week I start working again so I'll have less time to write. Yay for the poor uni life! Enjoy!**

 **I don't own RWBY, do you know what i could do if I did? I wouldn't be writing fanfics, for one.**

Cardin's house was in the nice part of Los Angeles, not all that far from Weiss' own home. The unnecessarily large houses around here had always annoyed her. It was dark, the only lights from the streetlights down at the bottom of the drive, which they were sheltered from by the trees that covered the entrance.

Weiss walked a few paces apart from Jaune, aware Pyrrha was watching her every move. One glance over at the tall redhead confirmed that. She was also aware that Jaune seemed even more down. He'd sat next to her in the car, and she'd been completely silent. She had been sat behind Pyrrha, after all.

Ruby was the first to open a carton of eggs. "Let's do this!"

The others quickly followed suit. Eggs, toilet paper, and even some of their snacks ended up coating the front and sides of the house, some of the courtyard's trees getting caught in the carnage too.

"Hey Weiss, which window is Cardin's?" Yang asked.

"That one on the right, first floor. Why?"

"Let's smash it."

Weiss paused. "Yang… that's a criminal offence."

"No-one'll know it was us!"

"Our fingerprints are everywhere."

"Weiss, come on." Weiss looked up at the dark pane of glass. He could afford a smashed window. He deserved it, didn't he?

Didn't he?

Weiss shook her head. "I draw the line here."

Yang pouted, but didn't push it. Blake took her arm and dragged her back to the rolls of toilet paper, yet to be unravelled. Weiss stepped back to take in the effect. She didn't focus on where she was going until she crashed into Jaune, both falling onto the ground. "I'm sorry!"

"It was my fault; I should have checked where I was going."

"Weiss…" Jaune helped her up.

"Yeah?" She wiped her mouth. Her lipstick, which had been so carefully applied, was now all over her face. At least she had gone safe with a nude colour. Red would have been too obvious.

"You don't need to do that. You look fine."

She smiled, then shivered. "Wow it's cold. What's the time?"

He checked his phone. "Quarter past two."

She crossed her arms for warmth. He hesitated, then enveloped her in a warm, relaxing hug. She unfolded her arms and returned the gesture, hyperaware of him- the warmth surrounding her- his height, his scent, the taut muscles under his hoodie, the strength of his arms-

What was she doing? Hadn't she told him she wasn't ready?

But it felt so right, and that was something she hadn't felt in a while.

Still, she wasn't looking for just a rebound. And that was what he would be if she did anything now. And she couldn't do that to him.

She pulled away from him, conflicted.

"Weiss? Is- is something wrong?"

"I can't do this," she whispered to herself.

"Can't do what?" he looked at her, confused, as she began to walk back to the car. "Weiss!"

"I can't- I WON'T- do this to you. You need to be with someone who isn't... isn't me." She kept her back to him. He stayed a few steps behind her. She stopped, and so did he. Still at a little distance. "Jaune, I felt that connection too." He brightened. "But I can't drag you along when I know it isn't what you deserve. It's not the right time. We aren't meant to be, right now."

"Is it ever the right time?"

She let out a scoff. "Almost never. But now… right now is even worse. I'd only hurt you. I'm sorry." She began walking again.

This time, he caught up to her. They were by the car. He grabbed her by the shoulders, and she looked away from him- down to his chest, where her head had rested not that long ago. "I don't care about that. I know that I want you, only you, and if you can't see that's all I care about, I don't know what I'll do."

"You do realise that my ex- they guy whose house we're destroying- is going to be okay with us dating? Jaune, he'll kill you! You don't know what he's capable of!"

"Still don't care."

She sighed distractedly. "I'm doing this to keep you safe." She still didn't look him in the eye.

He cupped her cheek with his warm hand. She didn't resist. "Weiss-" she closed her eyes. "It's okay."

She half opened her eyes. "I always get like this when I'm drunk," said, tears spilling from her eyes. "So melodramatic…" and then she lurched forward and kissed him forcefully.

It took a few seconds for him to adjust, but he wrapped around her again, the two grasping at each other's hair and jackets as if trying to become one. She pulled away and gasped. "What have I done… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he said, and pulled the door open, seating her inside. He climbed into the warm vehicle as well, and let her rest her head on his arm- which she now noticed was a lot more toned than she had originally thought. Even though she was completely smashed, she knew this wasn't her imagination running wild.

She didn't look so perfect, in the car on that cold November night. She had a runny nose and eyeliner tracks running down her face, her lipstick smudged and her hair a mess from fingers being run through it. She wasn't sure at what point she stopped crying and fell asleep, but she woke up back in Yang's house.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Dear lord it has been a hot minute since I last uploaded! I've been hella busy with this thing called- oh, what was it?- oh that's right. Life.**

 **I'm joking, of course, but seriously guys, I din't realise we have assessments due all the freaking time. Add a part-time job, and you're looking at little to no writing time. And most of that is taken up with a novel I'm writing (trying to write at any rate) so uploading is really hard. But I'm trying my best not to abandon! I want to finish this story! This isn't going away any time soon! Without further ado, enjoy!**

 **Discalimer: I don't own RWBY and the other stuff yaddayadda**

She sat up, her head pounding. She was on the couch, a blanket tossed over her. The early noon sun was blinding. "Yang?" she croaked out.

Yang popped her head out of the kitchen. "Finally awake, sleeping beauty?"

Weiss lifted her hand to her eyes. "Could you maybe not speak so loudly?"

The blonde tipped herself onto the end of the couch, bouncing Weiss around. "First hangover?"

"I have literally never felt more like dying in my entire life."

Yang smiled parentally. "I remember my first hangover too." It was hard to believe Yang had drunk as much as- no, more than- her last night. She looked flawless as always. "Water?" She handed Weiss a glass and two aspirin pills.

Weiss took a sip. It wasn't water. It was vodka. "Yang!"

Yang chuckled. "Okay! Chill."

"You're such an ass."

Yang feigned shock. "Princess! Don't curse like a plebeian!"

Weiss swatted her. "Water, pleeeease. I honestly feel like I'm going to shrivel up and die."

Yang bounded to the kitchen and returned with the non-offensive beverage. She offered it to Weiss, who threw it back like it was beer. "I'll cook you something greasy and get you some coffee. It'll help the hangover."

Weiss groaned. "Food sounds like a terrible idea."

"Trust me. Hangover food is the best."

Weiss pulled her phone out of her overnight bag as Yang went back to the kitchen. She smelled bacon and eggs. Gross. She scrolled through her messages- a few calls from her father's assistant, one call from her sister, a few Facebook messages- nothing out of the ordinary. Except for a private message on her messenger app.

She opened the message, accepting the request. Whoever it was, they didn't use their real name or pic. But they had sent a video- of a group of misfit teens throwing eggs at a house, stumbling around drunk in the dark.

Someone had filmed them last night.

She clicked on the person's icon and opened their Facebook page.

"BEACON EYES" blared the name. it wasn't a person. It was a page. Oh. She'd heard about this page before. It was the gossip source of Beacon Academy- people sent in gossip, videos, photos- whatever got a reaction out of people. Rumour had it even the teachers followed the page. Of course, it was all anonymous. They only named-and-shamed the people in the posts.

She scrolled down- please don't let that video be posted- and saw that they hadn't posted for a good two weeks. BE was taking a break, said the last post. Don't try and contact us anytime soon. We're not messaging until some shit blows over.

"Yang, get in here!" Weiss' voice was strained. Panicked.

Yang walked back in with several greasy plates. "What happened?"

"This." She played the video.

"Sit." Yang's eyes were as big as saucers. "Guys! Get in here! All of you!"

She brought in several more plates, crowding them all on the coffee table. Blake propped herself up from her sleeping position on the other couch. "What is it? You woke me up."

Yang poured a coffee and handed it to Blake. "When they all get here."

Pyrrha, Ruby and Nora walked in together. They'd shared Ruby's room last night, along with Yang, and the boys had bunked in Yang's room. Weiss' heart fluttered a bit when she saw Jaune, but she was sure she still looked like a mess. She tried to wipe the makeup she was sure had smudged off, but her hands came away clean. Yang really did take good care of her. "What's up?" Ren asked.

Yang let them get food and coffee before taking the phone and played the video for them.

Nora gasped and went pale. "Crap. Crapcrapcrap." She popped the P on the last "crap." Ren bit his lip worriedly. Ruby was so busy eating she almost missed it, then she did a double take. "Is that us?"

Pyrrha didn't say a word. She sipped her coffee and stared at the screen, as though willing it away would make it disappear.

Jaune looked between the phone and Weiss confusedly.

Yang threw the phone back at Weiss, "Guys, we can't let the video get out. That's us wrecking private property. We could realistically be arrested."

"Felony Vandalism," Blake mumbled.

"Oh, I'm so glad we have a lawyer in the room," Ruby sniped back.

"Why is it illegal?" Jaune asked.

"What?"

"Come on, it's not like we broke the windows or something. They have a window cleaner, right? So who cares!"

"The state of California, maybe?"

Weiss snapped out of her stare she'd fallen into. "Guys, check your messages. They can't have just sent this to me." They all pulled out their phones- nothing. None of them. Only Weiss had been sent this. "Why am I the only one?"

"Maybe Cardin runs the page?" Ruby suggested. "He could be torturing you."

Weiss snorted. "Does he even have the brain cells to run a Facebook page?"

"Are we seriously doing this right now?" Said Pyrrha. "I can't have this on my record. I need that athletic scholarship. I can't have any incidents on my record!"

"Same," said Ren quietly.

Nora chewed on her lip. "There's only one way to know if Cardin's behind this. Weiss, you need to get back on his good side."

"I don't know if you noticed, but I was on his "good side" for like four years and I saw no evidence to suggest he was running an anonymous gossip page about the school."

"And do we really want Weiss around that toxic environment?" Asked Jaune. "I mean, no-one wants to be around toxic people, so why are we sending her into the lion's den?" Weiss smiled gratefully.

Her phone buzzed. She picked it up. Winter. "Sorry guys, gotta take this." She slid into the hallway, closing the door behind her, and picked up. "Winter."

"Weiss? Where are you?"

"I told Father, I stayed over a friend's house."

"Which friend?"

"You don't know her." Them. Whatever.

"Did you forget about the visit to U.C. Berkeley this afternoon?"

Weiss gasped. "Oh, my goodness! I'll be there in-" she stalled, not knowing how long it would take her to get there. "I'll be there soon, I promise."

"Forget it." Winter sighed. "I went to all this trouble to get you a tour and interview, and you throw it back in my face."

"Winter I'm so sorry. I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"How?"

"I'll… intern for you and father until college."

Weiss held her breath as Winter considered it. "Fine. But you'd better be at the Stanford tour tomorrow."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'll be there."

Winter hung up. Weiss walked back into the living room in time to hear "It's not fair on her!"

"What's not fair on who?"

Yang looked at Weiss. "It's not fair on you that Cardin keeps torturing you and certain people-" she glared at Pyrrha- "want you to use it to get information."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning she thinks you should fake-date him until you know for sure that he's B.E."

Weiss shook her head, her loose hair tumbling around her shoulders. "Nope. No way. Not a chance in Hell." She was pretty sure that Pyrrha just wanted her out of the way so Jaune would be hers, and just hers, again.

"It would be a good reconnaissance mission. You know him, you know how he works."

Nora spoke up, "It's not the worst idea I've heard." They all turned to the tiny ginger. "I mean, as long as you're comfortable. Don't do anything you don't want to do."

Weiss turned to the rest, who were unconvinced. "I don't know…"

Pyrrha sensed weakness, and she dug deeper. "You know him best. If it's not him, it's someone in that group. The jocks and mean girls." Her eyes lit up. "It could be those twins that Yang was talking about. The ones on the Hurricane Sirens?" That was the cheer squad.

"Probably, but fuck them." Weiss was getting tired of this. "I can't. I'm sorry."


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh hey, remember last year when I said I'd try to upload? Hahahaahahahahahahahaha yeah no that didn't happen. Oops**

 **You knwo the disclaimer drill at this point. If I'm here, I don't own it. Duh.**

 **Also~ I don't think I ever addressed one of the reviews I got that told me Pepperdine isn't a party school. I'm so sorry. Google can only take me so far, and I am British so I don't know a lot about your universities. I'm sorry. (I need to stop apologising- I'm turning into Pyrrha and I don't wanna die!)**

 **Enjoy~~~**

Weiss' hair was tied back into its usual ponytail. Her face was clean of makeup and her clothes were as presentable as she could make them after sleeping in them. Yang had dropped her back in her own neighbourhood on her motorbike, Bumblebee, dropping her a few streets over, and she'd called a taxi (to not arouse suspicion from the family.) As soon as Weiss was inside the unnecessarily oversize mansion, she ran to get a smart "serious student" outfit from her room. Her shoes clacked loudly on the marble floor, a world away from the soft carpeting of Yang and Ruby's living room.

Quickly jumping in the shower, she began scrubbing at her torso. Not bothering to shave, she jumped back out and pulled on a white silky blouse, grey tailored trousers, and her blue court shoes. Grabbing her matching blue bag from the shelf of her walk-in, she called her driver to meet her at the front door. "I'm already late, so if I'm a bit snippy, I' sorry," she ended the call with.

Tossing her blazer over her shoulders, she hurried along the house. Why was it so large? Why was her room so inconveniently located all the way over there? She cursed her father for needing to show off with how big the house was. And for clearly wanting her out of the way.

The car journey took- according to Weiss- way too long. Somehow they got caught in the worst possible traffic, even though it wasn't peak time. Damn California. The drive would take six hours anyway, and now it would take longer.

Seven hours later, Weiss was just about there. Bored out of her skull, but present. When she'd first woken up, she'd thought it was early noon. In reality it was around 7am. Who wakes up at 7am after being awake until like 4am? Especially when they'd been drinking. But here she was, present, makeup applied flawlessly in the car (they'd been stuck in traffic for a while there, so her eye makeup was flawless.) And Yang had been right about that greasy food helping her. She hadn't felt like throwing up yet.

She arrived at the campus at around 3pm. Though she wasn't sure she wanted to go here- too close to home, to be frank- she had to admit it was beautiful. Especially with the late November atmosphere. It looked like people were heading home for thanksgiving, as the campus was reasonably empty. She made her way to the meeting spot Winter had told her to head to.

Winter had attended UC Berkeley as an undergrad and had completed her postgrad at Stanford. She had always been the "good" sibling- perfect grades, prestigious colleges, internships and work experience to make her one of the most valuable players in the field- and she was only 25, at the top of her game. She was waiting a the steps, looking effortlessly chic with her hair pinned back and her charcoal skirt suit, talking to someone Weiss assumed to be either a parent of an applicant or someone who worked for the university.

As Weiss approached her sister, the man she had been talking to must have sensed Winter's shift in attitude as she gave Weiss a an smile (a sure sign she approved of Weiss actually making it. Otherwise, she would have looked off to the side and waited for Weiss to acknowledge her first). "Weiss, finally." She gave her a quick hug. "This-" she gestured to the man standing next to her- "Is Stefan Proudfoot. He's a research assistant here."

Weiss shook his hand. "What field of research?"

"I work in the law department," he smiled. He reminded Weiss of a teddy bear. Tall and cuddle looking, but you always have to remember what vicious creatures they're based off. If he was talking to Winter he probably wasn't as soft as he looked and acted. "I can't tell you exactly what research though. That's top secret." He laughed boomingly.

Weiss politely excused herself and headed over to the check-in area, where she got her visitors badge. The tour started around 4pm, so there was a little time to look around on her own. She didn't want to spend any more time with Winter than necessary. They were sisters, and she preferred her sister over the rest of the family, but… it was still difficult for her.

She took out her phone and watched the video again, volume muted. Maybe this time it wouldn't look so bad?

She wasn't so worried for her own reputation- her family would be disappointed, angry even, but they would cover it up. Her friends didn't have that same privilege though. She was wholly aware that she didn't have half of the problems they did. Sitting on the steps outside a building- the library, maybe?- she scrolled through her recent messages, snapchats and Instagram feed. It looked like the rest of the group had decided to spend the weekend together after she'd left. Snaps suggested they were out at some sort of lake, or river or something. It looked like fun. The seven of them were eating, laughing, playing cards against humanity. She smiled and shook her head at the dumb, inappropriate answers.

If only she was there instead of here, at a college she didn't care about, with people she knew she would never make proud.


	9. Chapter 9

**What's this? Two uploads in two days? Could it be that I'm actually going to finish this story sometime before I graduate?**

The tour went as well as could be expected with a school Weiss didn't care about. All of these schools were more of the same- even with their different rankings and specialisms. They were all selected by Weiss' father, sister and overly interested "family friends". Weiss' only acceptable majors were Business Management, Law, anything Medicine, and Politics. Weiss, ever the daydreamer, had secretly sent applications to art schools on the east coast, Rhode Island School of Design, NYU and Parsons being her personal favourites. When they visited New York for the traditional family winter break, Weiss was planning on sneaking away for a few hours to visit these schools- and a few others.

The campus was nice, there was no denying that. Winter and Stefan pointed out plenty of interesting features, naming buildings and talking about the history of the school. Her mind kept wandering back to the video.

After the tour- about two hours later- Weiss and Winter were sat outside an office. Weiss had a quick "meeting"- supposedly an informal interview that Winter had set up with a professor. Weiss knew it was just a formality- if she wanted in, Winter would make sure she got in.

But she didn't want in.

"What's wrong," Winter said as they sat in the car later. The partition between them and Andre, the driver, was up and classical music softly piped through the speaker system.

"Nothing."

"I know you. You're never this quiet unless something's happening." Winter glanced at her baby sister. "And you also wouldn't be checking your phone this often."

Weiss silently groaned. She had been checking the BE Facebook page more than usual, but only because she was scared they'd posted the video. They were still silent. But then her mind had gone into the "Are they posting elsewhere?" Territory and she'd spent about an hour trawling ever social media account she could think of, looking at their following and followers. Nothing anywhere. She was also constantly texting Yang, who had basically become her mother over the past 24 hours.

"Well?" Winter was still waiting for a response.

Weiss looked down at her phone in her lap again. "Nothing's happening. I'm just busy."

Winter pursed her lips, but didn't push the issue. Instead she pushed the button to talk to Andre. "Take us to the next burger drive-thru you see, please, Andre," she said and turned back to Weiss. "So what did you think of UC Berkeley?"

Weiss took her time answering. "It had a lot of history."

Winter nodded. "Did you think you'd like to study there?"

Weiss shrugged. "It ticks all the boxes you and Father set. So there's that."

They pulled up at McDonald's. Winter ordered a Fillet-o-Fish meal with a small Fanta, and Weiss ordered a spicy Veggie burger with large fries and a large Coke.

After a while, Winter spoke up again. "You know, Weiss, I never wanted to go to Berkeley. My heart was set on Columbia."

Weiss looked at her older sister, jaw dropped. "Are you serious? You never even suggested it!"

"I knew Father would never agree. Besides, it's my job to be the responsible sister. I had to set a good example It's too far away and I had to be here for you."

"Columbia's a good school, though! Why wouldn't he agree?"

"You know him. Listen, don't try to reason."

Weiss did know. She breathed deeply, looking out of the window at the dark starry sky. The start were tiny pinpoints on the navy velvet sky, light pollution from the city blocking them out.

"I know when you're avoiding something, so you'd better start talking."

"It's nothing, really."

"Is it about college or… life?"

Weiss sighed. "A bit of both, at the moment."

Winter nodded understandingly. "I heard about Cardin. Are you okay?"

Weiss shrugged. "It is what it is. We weren't good together."

"That's all?"

"What else would there be?"

"It just seems so sudden, is all."

"Well, it's not. I was thinking about it for months."

"What made you pull the trigger?"

Fear of ending up like Mother, Weiss wanted to say. Not wanting to become our parents. Him being a cheating, abusive asshole. Instead she said, "It just felt like the right time. I need to be more serious about life, and it felt like we weren't moving forward together."

Winter didn't ask any more questions.

The rest of the journey home, Weiss was either daydreaming or on the verge of nodding off. She caught herself dozing at least three times. When they finally arrived home, around 1am, the only people around here the house staff. She said goodnight to her elder sister and headed up to her room.

Inside, she plugged her phone in to charge. It had died about an hour previously. She saw two new messages from an unknown number. The first read, "hey Weiss. Just checking in. If you need anything drop me a text. Or a call. : )" And the second "This is Jaune by the way. I don't think we ever swapped numbers so… yeah. Give me a text back. Or something."


	10. Chapter 10- Interlude

"I don't understand why we had to come all the way back down to L.A. when it would have been so much quicker to go from Berkeley to Stanford," Weiss sighed as they sat in the car for a second day in a row.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Because that's how this family works, Weiss. You should know that by now. Please stop behaving like an insolent child."

"I AM a child," Weiss pointed out. "I'm seventeen."

"You're almost an adult now. You need to learn to accept traditions."

"It just seems inefficient. We're on the road, wasting time. I could have already had a tour of Stanford by now, and we could be on our way home."

"Please stop questioning everything."


	11. Chapter 11

**Woo guess who's procrastinating again**

 **I don't own the series obviously. Although after that season finale, it seems my ships aren't too off.**

 **Enjoy~**

"Weiss, why does Facebook say it's your birthday?" Yang asked when the four of them were sat in the library one lunchtime.

"Because it is?" Weiss responded succinctly.

They all turned to look at her, surprised. "But… you never said anything?"

She sighed. "My parents always throw ridiculous parties for their rich friends and business contacts. I hate them. They're more like meetings and showing me off to the world than actually celebrating anything."

Yang nudged her shoulder. "Why don't we come?"

"No offence, but I don't think it would be you guys' scene. Rich, boring old white men talking about gasoline prices and trade deals with tycoons in the Middle East?"

"Sounds riveting," Blake said. "I just finished reading a fascinating journal on MENA politics anyway."

"You cannot be serious," Ruby laughed. "That sounds so boooring!" her head tipped from side to side as she stretched out the two syllables.

Weiss shook her head. "Just trust me on this. You can talk politics somewhere we won't be bored out of our minds."

"Will he be there?" Yang asked.

Weiss didn't even have to ask who the blonde meant. "As the son of one of my father's biggest clients, Cardin will be in attendance. Which means I'll probably have to play nice, and be polite, and probably dance with him-"

"Yeah, no, you're not doing any of that." Yang interjected.

"I don't really have a choice?"

"You always have a choice," Blake muttered. "The path of least resistance is a choice. Standing up to your parents is a choice."

"Well put," Yang said. "Anyways, Weiss, if you really don't want to disobey your parents we'll let it go. But what's the worst that could realistically happen?"

"I could screw up so bad they send me to military school?"

"Because you had your friends at your birthday party?" Yang replied. "Sounds perfectly reasonable to me."

"You don't understand," Weiss sighed. "They hate anything they can't control."

Blake nodded sympathetically.

"It's like, I know they'd probably never disown me because: THE SCANDAL; but at the same time I don't know what lengths they'd go to, to keep me quiet." The whole table fell silent for a bit. "So anyways, what are you guys doing tonight?" Weiss asked in a fake cheery voice.

Yang shrugged a shoulder. "Was gunna go out, but all the good clubs are too busy on Fridays, and all the crap ones are full of creeps."

"I know a great little bar a few miles outside L.A.," Blake offered. "Maybe you, Ruby and I could go?"

Ruby shook her head. "Gotta study tonight. Crazy Chem test on Monday."

Yang looked at her little sister. "Since when do you study on Friday nights?"

"Since now." She looked at her older sister slyly, and emphasised the next sentence. " _You two should go together, though."_

Yang considered this. "Blake, you down for that?"

Blake nodded in her nonchalant manner. "Sounds good. I'll pick you up at seven?"

Yang's expression was hard to read. Clearly trying to be low-key about the fact that she was about to go out, one-on-one with her crush, hidden under a layer of nervousness, and pure joy. The resulting look was a bizarre half-smirk half-constipated look. She nodded and quickly excused herself from the table.

Weiss half smiled to herself, and looked down at her lap where her phone had lit up. She and Jaune had been texting back and forth for the past few weeks, and she felt that she'd really gotten to know him a lot better. She still had butterflies every time she saw his name on the screen, or remembered that night. She went to open his message, but hesitated. Instead she opened the Facebook app and opened the Beacon Eyes page.

Or, what was left of it.

It looked like BE had either moved elsewhere entirely, or was on some seriously long break. Their video hadn't been posted, and she hadn't heard back from them when she had demanded to know what they wanted from her. Money, she had money? Did she need to buy their compliance?

Instead, they had left her on read. Maybe they were deliberating over what they wanted. Maybe they were using her panicky message as leverage, too. After all, paying someone to keep quiet was probably a crime too. She pushed her tongue against her teeth and closed the app. There was no winning with some people.

-That evening-

Yang sent Weiss a selfie for a second opinion. At this point, she needed someone who didn't think makeup was too complicated and basically lived off cookies. Ruby's only comment was "we all know Blake likes her tough guys- or girls. So play that part up." And she threw a black leather jacket at her older sister.

Weiss immediately texted back, "Too much eye shadow. Also what are those boots? You won't be able to stand up straight."

Yang nodded understandingly. "I'll get rid of the boots, but the eyeshadow is here to stay"

"Nope. Take some off."

"Not happening elsa"

"Can you not?"

"You know I have to. Talk later : ))))))))"

Weiss rolled her eyes and smiled. Sending back a quick emoji, she locked her phone and dropped it into the small clutch bag she'd elected to carry for the evening. As she walked to the door of her bedroom, she stopped in front of the mirror.

Dark grey-blue silk draped over her body in the form of an elegant floor length gown. Her bolero was also a dark grey, with a gemstone fastening. She had chosen to braid her hair into a chignon at the base of her neck instead of its usual ponytail, with her fringe and a few loose strands framing her face. Her makeup was a little more dramatic than usual, nothing gaudy of course, but enough to make her look a little older. She still felt like a teenager, though. Darn teenage years, they drag on forever.


End file.
